NEW! Ex-Planned Parenthood Director Abby Johnson Joins Lila Rose & Live Action

NEW! Top New York Pro-Abortion Activist Fired After Financial Misconduct / NARAL Leader Funded Lavish Lifestyle with Organization’s Funds, Says Audit

NEW! Case With 107 Charges Against Planned Parenthood Moves Ahead

NEW! Safety Alert for Phenylpropanolamine: Questions & Answers

NEW! QuickStats: Birth Rates for Teens Aged 15--19 Years, by State --- United States, 2009

NEW! The Hippocratic Resource

NEW! Black History Month -- Our History: Good & Bad

NEW! Dark Abortion-Related Realities in the Black Community Revealed 

NEW! Vegetative State Patients May Soon Be Able to Communicate

NEW! Risk and Reward in Utero

NEW! First Amendment Protection for Pro-lifers (Allott): Abortion Providers Losing Battle to Mislabel Pregnancy Clinics   

NEW! Pro-lifers Worldwide Gear Up for Largest Ever 40 Days for Life Campaign – 243 Cities

NEW! Mother Diagnosed With Cancer Stuns Doctors who Advised Abortion

NEW! Technology & Barbarism

NEW! Hospital’s Commitment to Reversing Late-Term Abortions Gains National Media Attention

NEW! Saskatchewan Physician Guidelines Outline Numerous Risks of Abortion

NEW! 100,000 Expected to March for Life in Philippines

NEW! Commentary: Why Planned Parenthood Must Be Defunded

NEW! Activists Who Investigate Planned Parenthood Are Doing What Law Enforcement Has Failed to Do, Congressman Says

NEW! Lila Rose: The Top Six Planned Parenthood Deceptions in Response to Sex-trafficking Exposé

NEW! PP & Sex-Trafficking... Is Anyone REALLY Surprised?

NEW! Planned Parenthood Caught on Video Covering Up Sex Trafficking

NEW! Planned Parenthood Fires Employee Caught Enabling Underage Sex Trafficking

NEW! Second Video Shows Planned Parenthood-Sex Trafficking Coverup

NEW! Pence Says the 'Time to Deny Funding to Planned Parenthood is NOW'

NEW! What Can YOU Do?  www.exposeplannedparenthood.com

NEW! Shoulder to Shoulder

NEW! Walking with 40,000 Pro-lifers in San Francisco: A  Perspective

NEW! Bring Back Family Time / Stirring the Pot to Fix Social Ills

NEW! Parents: Resources to Protect Your Family From Online Harm

Baltimore Anti-Pregnancy Center Law Declared Unconstitutional; Care Net Celebrates Victory for Pro-Life Organizations Nationwide

NYC's Bill Targeting Pregnancy Centers: DOA

Miracle Baby Given a Chance, When Parents Go Against Doctors Advising Abortion

American Idol Contestant: I Was Told to Abort My Baby, but She’s ‘The Best Thing That Ever Happened’

Is There a Genius in All of Us?

You Me Everybody. We're All Just Grown-Up Embryos Campaign...

Ex-Planned Parenthood Director Abby Johnson Joins Live Action
In a pairing that promises the Planned Parenthood abortion business will face more pressure over its taxpayer funding and abuses like exploiting sexually trafficked teens, a former Planned Parenthood director is joining a key pro-life group.

Abby Johnson, who rocked Planned Parenthood’s world when she stepped down from her position as the head of a southeast Texas Planned Parenthood abortion facility, will join forces with Live Action, the pro-life group responsible for the undercover videos that have brought massive negative attention to the abortion group.

Johnson will join the Live Action team as Chief Research Strategist, the pro-life group told LifeNews.com today.

“Abby Johnson has seen the abuses inside Planned Parenthood with her own eyes and confirms the danger its clinics pose to women and young girls,” stated Live Action President Lila Rose.

“She is a courageous trailblazer despite Planned Parenthood’s desperate attempts to attack her and silence the truth,” Rose said. “We are thrilled and very thankful to have Abby join our team and are confident that her first-hand experience, conviction and guidance will provide invaluable counsel to Live Action as we advance our common goal of protecting women and children from the abuses of Planned Parenthood.”

Johnson worked and volunteered for Planned Parenthood for eight years until October of 2009 when she witnessed a 13-week old baby in an ultrasound lose the fight for its life in the womb. Those experiences will give Live Action unparalleled access to her insights into how Planned parenthood works and the best way to expose additional shady practices outside of the recent videos highlighting its staffers arranging for abortions for allegedly underage girls illegally brought to the Untied States to be victimized in the se trade.

Now pro-life following her seeing an abortion performed at the Planned Parenthood center, Johnson’s book Unplanned quickly rose up the book sales charts and was one of the most sold books on Amazon and other lists last month.

Since her conversion of heart, Johnson has also confirmed that the alarming incidents revealed by Live Action’s undercover investigations are not isolated incidents.

“I can tell you from experience that Planned Parenthood often turns a blind eye to sexual abuse and trafficking – what you see in Live Action’s videos is not a rare occurrence,” Johnson says. “But ignorance is no defense, especially when it has turned their clinics into a safe haven for those who sexually exploit women and girls. This is not a training problem so much as it is an ideology problem.”

“I am humbled and eager to begin this partnership with Live Action so that together we can expose the serious harm Planned Parenthood poses to the most vulnerable among us,” Johnson added.

Live Action has previously released more than a dozen hidden camera videos from ten states.

This body of visual evidence shows several alarming patterns of illegal Planned Parenthood activities including the willingness to aid and abet the sex trafficking of young girls, the cover-up of sexual abuse of minors, the skirting of parental consent laws, citing unscientific and fabricated medical information to manipulate women to have abortions, and Planned Parenthood’s willingness to accept donations earmarked to abort African-American babies.  [16 Feb 11, Ertelt | Washington, DC | LifeNews.com, http://www.lifenews.com/2011/02/16/ex-planned-parenthood-director-abby-johnson-joins-live-action/

Top New York Pro-Abortion Activist Fired After Financial Misconduct / NARAL Leader Funded Lavish Lifestyle with Organization’s Funds, Says Audit

Kelli Conlin was the pro-abortion giant of New York — essentially running the pro-abortion movement in the Empire State. That is, until she was forced to quit recently after allegations related to massive financial misconduct.

Conlin, now the former president of NARAL New York, resigned last month after a forensics audit the pro-abortion group conducted uncovered financial problems dating back to 2008, or even earlier, according to a YNN report. She had held the post for two decades and YNN indicates a source close to the situation says she was fired.

The accounting firm Marks Paneth & Shron conducted the audit and found numerous questionable charges on NARAL credit cards Conlin used between 2008 and 2010. The charges include $5,709 in high-end clothing purchased at Giorgio Armani and Barney’s and $17,000 for a reimbursement for a Hamptons summer rental Conlin used in 2009.

Conlin also spent $100,000 on car service between March 2008 and December 2010 to have her children taken to and picked up from a private school in New York City. YNN also indicates the audit found  $22,000 Conlin spent on meals — sometimes with friends who had no association with her work as the head of a pro-abortion activist group.

The audit also found questionable transactions in which Conlin transferred large sums of money between NARAL accounts to cover bonuses for her staff and herself. The New York chapter of NARAL has a $4.5 million budget and Conlin was paid $309,000 in 2009, which includes a $90,000 bonus.

YNN indicates the audit was conducted in December 2010 and is a possible precursor to a more thorough examination of the financial mismanagement and abuse conducted at New York NARAL during Conlin’s tenure.

There is also potential political fallout as NARAL significantly bankrolled and supported the 2010 election campaign of Attorney General contender Eric Schneiderman, whose father, Irwin, sits on the New York NARAL board (though he took a brief absence during the election campaign). Irwin Schneiderman has had a seat on the New York NARAL board for a decade and contributed $75,000 in the past several years. Conlin also supported Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. during the 2009 elections.

Upon hearing about the abortion scandal in New York, Kristan Hawkins, Executive Director of Students for Life commented to LifeNews.com.

“The recent mess that NARAL of New York has found itself in proves once again that the abortion industry and their affiliates are deceiving young women,” she said. “The recent audit which found massive misappropriation of funds shows just how corrupt pro-abortion groups are. They are not in it to help women, but rather for their own selfish profit.”

“The abortion business is not in it to help women, but for the profit the abortion business brings,” she added.
[16 Feb 11, Ertelt | Washington, DC, LifeNews.com, http://www.lifenews.com/2011/02/16/top-new-york-pro-abortion-activist-fired-after-financial-misconduct/

NARAL Leader Funded Lavish Lifestyle with Organization’s Funds, Says Audit

A former longtime president of NARAL Pro-Choice New York is at the center of a major financial scandal, after the discovery that she appeared to have used the non-profit’s funds to fund a lavish personal lifestyle.

YNN’s Capitol Tonight reports that they have acquired an exclusive copy of a forensic audit conducted for NARAL Pro Choice New York that shows Kelli Conlin appropriated hundreds of thousands of the organization’s dollars – since at least 2008 – for what appear to be personal purposes. Conlin has been fired according to an unnamed source.

Conlin was a fixture at NARAL Pro-Choice New York, having led that chapter as president since 1992. Hence, her sudden departure in January 2011 raised questions about the reasons for her leaving.

The Capitol Tonight report says the audit shows Conlin used NARAL’s credit cards to purchase over $5000 in clothing from retailers like Giorgio Armani, a $17,000 summer rental in the Hamptons in 2009, and $22,000 in meals.

The purchases on the company dime also included a $100,000 car service to drop off her children at school in Manhattan’s posh Upper West Side.

Capitol Tonight also reported that Conlin’s paycheck from NARAL totaled $309,000 for 2009 – out of annual budget of $4.5 million. It also says the audit shows that a number of large transactions of money that moved around NARAL Pro-Choice New York’s accounts appear dubious, and may hide other financial improprieties.

Kristan Hawkins, executive director of Students for Life, commented that the financial scandal at NARAL Pro-Choice New York “shows just how corrupt pro-abortion groups are,” asserting that the non-profit was deceiving women about its priorities.

“They are not in it to help women, but rather for their own selfish profit.”

The New York Post reports that NARAL Pro-Choice New York’s spokeswoman Mary Alice Carr said that the audit is just “in draft form” and that so far they have not reached any conclusions, or even made a determination based on the information at hand regarding “whether there was any wrongdoing that would require the notification of the legal or regulatory authorities.”

That apparently is not enough for Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, who is launching a criminal probe into the organization.

But pro-life Democrat Sen. Ruben Diaz, Sr. has called on the State Attorney General Eric Scheniderman to recuse himself from any investigation, given his many deep connections with Conlin and the New York NARAL chapter. He pointed out that Scheniderman’s father, Irwin, sat on the board of NARAL Pro-Choice New York for a number of years.

“The close, personal and political relationship between Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Kelli Conlin during his campaign for Attorney General makes his entire office suspect of gross conflict-of-interest,” said Diaz, “which would prevent it from properly investigating and prosecuting any wrongdoing by Ms. Conlin and NARAL.”

Diaz opined that the “proper course of action” would be to enlist the U.S. Attorney’s Office as a neutral prosecutor “to investigate and prosecute if appropriate.” [Feb 16, 2011, P. Smith, NEW YORK, LifeSiteNews.com
  http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/naral-leader-funded-lavish-lifestyle-with-organizations-funds-says-audit?utm_source=LifeSiteNews.com+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=6c08fc84e3-LifeSiteNews_com_US_Headlines02_16_2011&utm_medium=email

Case With 107 Charges Against Planned Parenthood Moves Ahead

After two years of delay, the case with 107 charges against Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri has finally moved forward. The charges, initially filed by former state attorney general Phill Kline, allege the abortion business potentially engaged in illegal abortions and violated state record-keeping laws.

Former state attorney general Phill Kline, as the then Johnson County District Attorney, filed 107 charges, including 23 felonies, against the abortion business for allegedly violating state law.

The two year delay in the case has come as political officials in Kansas seen to deflect attention on the case away from the problems at Planned Parenthood and towards false accusations that Phill Kline abused his position.

However, a hearing was held today in the criminal case against the Johnson County, Kansas Planned Parenthood.  The hearing came after public pressure was brought to bear on District Attorney Steve Howe to follow through with the prosecution and the day after nearly 5,000 listeners logged onto a webcast detailing the political corruption that has caused the case to stagnate.

During the hearing held before Judge Stephen Tatum, according to officials at Operation Rescue, both sides established that they have 45 days to file motions and 45 days to respond. A future hearing on the motions will take place in July.

This was the first action in the case at the District Court level since January, 2009. Disputes over evidence sent the case to the Kansas Supreme Court where it languished until last October when the Court ruled that the case could go forward and remanded it back to the District Attorney’s office for prosecution.

Pro-life groups, including Operation Rescue, were concerned that District Attorney Howe would not pursue the case due to his political rivalry with Kline, who filed the criminal charges in 2007, even though at least three judges ruled there is probable cause to believe that Planned Parenthood violated the law.

“We are suspicious of Howe’s move to carry this case on now at this time, but it does take away some of the impetus of the Board to follow through with its political lynching of Kline,” said Operation Rescue president Troy Newman.

Meanwhile, the Kansas political officials who opposed Kline’s attempt to enforce abortion laws in Kansas have pursued an ethics case against Kline that is due to go to trial before a three-member panel of the Disciplinary Administrator’s office on Monday.case against Kline is based on charges that Kline acted improperly during his investigation of Kansas abortion abuses.

“However, it was learned last week that the Disciplinary Administrators own investigators had cleared Kline of any wrong-doing in 2008, but that their report was buried in order to keep the politically motivated vendetta against Kline alive. Kline’s defense has filed a motion to disqualify the panel members due to a conflict of interest,” Newman said.

“Even though Kline has been cleared nine ways to Sunday, the political forces that seek to protect and cover-up for abortion abuses will still try to use any finding against Kline as an excuse to scuttle the case,” said Newman. “This would place politics above the rule of law and above the lives and health of women. We hope that will not be the case.”

The case against Planned Parenthood began over seven years ago but before the evidence could be fully analyzed, Kline was defeated as Attorney General. In an unusual twist, he was immediately appointed as District Attorney of the same Kansas county where Planned Parenthood operates.

In June, 2007, the new pro-abortion Attorney General, Paul Morrison, issued a letter “clearing” Planned Parenthood of any wrong-doing. This letter disturbed Judge Richard Anderson, who was the custodian of the evidence and the judge who had been involved in overseeing Kline’s investigations.

Six months later, Morrison was forced to resign in disgrace amid a scandal involving his attempts to persuade his illicit lover in the DA’s office to obstruct Kline’s abortion investigations.

Finally, in October, 2007, Kline filed the charges but the new Attorney General, Steven Six, who was appointed by pro-abortion ex-Gov. Kathleen Sebelius placed a gag order on Judge Anderson and the evidence against Planned Parenthood. Anderson was told not to comply with the District Attorney’s subpoenas.

Two judges have determined that the files show “probable cause” that the abortion business violated state abortion laws and falsified medical records. Kline legally received the records during his investigation of Planned Parenthood and transferred them to his new office when he became the county attorney.

The records showed, according to Anderson, that the age of the babies involved in the abortions had been altered to hide the fact that Planned Parenthood was engaging in illegal late-term abortions. Kline has also said Planned Parenthood engaged in a felony by making copies of state health department abortion reports that it failed to keep on file as required by law.   [16 Feb 2011, Ertelt | Olathe, KS | LifeNews.com,
  http://www.lifenews.com/2011/02/16/case-with-107-charges-against-planned-parenthood-moves-ahead/]




Safety Alert for Phenylpropanolamine: Questions & Answers
Phenylpropanolamine is an ingredient used in prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) drug products as a nasal decongestant to relieve stuffy nose or sinus congestion, and in OTC weight control drug products to control appetite. Click the link for detailed information, or call Call 1-888 INFO FDA (1-888-463-6332)
http://www.fda.gov/drugs/drugSafety/InformationbyDrugClass/ucm150767.htm

QuickStats: Birth Rates for Teens Aged 15--19 Years, by State --- United States, 2009

The figure shows birth rates for teens aged 15-19 years in the United States in 2009. Birth rates among those teens, by state, were lowest in the Northeast and upper Midwest, and highest across the southern states. Rates ranged from <20.0 per 1,000 population in three states to >60.0 in four states. The national rate was 39.1 in 2009.

* Births per 1,000 women aged 15--19 years.

† Data for 2009 are preliminary.

In 2009, birth rates among teens aged 15--19 years in the United States were lowest in the Northeast and upper Midwest, and highest across the southern states. Rates ranged from <20.0 per 1,000 in three states to >60.0 in four states. The national rate was 39.1 in 2009.

Sources: National Vital Statistics System. Birth data. Hyattsville, MD: US Department of Health and Human Services, CDC, National Center for Health Statistics; 2009. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/births.htm.

Ventura SJ, Hamilton BE. U.S. teenage birth rate resumes decline. NCHS Data Brief, no 58. Hyattsville, MD: US Department of Health and Human Services, CDC, National Center for Health Statistics; 2011. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs.htm.

Alternate Text: The figure above shows birth rates for teens aged 15-19 years in the United States in 2009. Birth rates among those teens, by state, were lowest in the Northeast and upper Midwest, and highest across the southern states. Rates ranged from <20.0 per 1,000 population in three states to >60.0 in four states. The national rate was 39.1 in 2009.   For a national map, visit link below...   [CDC, MMWR Weekly, February 18, 2011 / 60(06);183,  http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6006a6.htm?s_cid=mm6006a6_e&source=govdelivery]



The Hippocratic Resource was established in 2001 as an organization of physicians, dentists, nurses, and other health-care professionals who adhere to the principles of the Hippocratic Oath that has governed the practice of Medicine for some 2,500 years, providing ethical guidance and protection for both practitioner and patient since the time of its namesake author, Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine.

  The Purposes of The Hippocratic Resource are:
To uphold, practice and promulgate the principles of the Hippocratic Oath, particularly its proscriptions against abortion, assisted suicide and euthanasia.

To maintain/teach a profound respect for human life from earliest beginnings through natural death.

To serve as a resource of accurate, current and truthful biologic and medical knowledge regarding life issues for our community leaders, state and federal legislators, members of the judiciary, and the media.

To speak/teach the Hippocratic truth regarding human reproduction, abortion, euthanasia & other life issues in schools, community groups etc., particularly as these issues impact on family and community life. [http://lahealthprofs4life.org/First.asp]





Our History: Good & Bad
We’ve reached another Black History Month in America. The month of February is a time to pause and consider the accomplishments Black Americans have made and continue to make in our nation. Our minds often reflect upon the positive examples of historical icons such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, Rosa Parks and many others past and present.

Black History Month is certainly a time to celebrate.

However, as pleasant as it to reflect upon the positive accomplishments of Blacks in history, gleaning what we can from them, I think we owe it to ourselves to periodically ponder ugly and uncomfortable deeds done by individuals and extract the lessons we can learn from them as well.

Part of the uncomfortable yet necessary mission of the National Black Prolife Coalition is to present the ugly truth about abortion and its devastating impact upon the African-American community, as well as exposing injustices wrought by individuals within the abortion industry.

One such infamous individual is Dr. Kermit Gosnell. Gosnell is an abortionist who ran the Women’s Medical Center in Philadelphia and was arrested last month for eight counts of murder, one of which was for the botched abortion death of a 41-year old woman. The other seven counts were for babies who police discovered had been born alive and then killed. District Attorney R. Seth Williams released a 281-page report which lays out the basis for murder charges against Gosnell and 9 of his associates, and contains testimonies from 58 witnesses.

The report reveals unsanitary conditions repeatedly resulting in women receiving venereal diseases because of Gosnell’s use of the same instruments, patient after patient with no attempt to clean them. It highlights very late-term abortion procedures frequently performed by Gosnell’s unlicensed staff.

It documents babies well beyond 20 weeks who were frequently delivered alive, only to be murdered as Gosnell’s scissors were plunged deep into the backs of their necks, severing their spinal cords or their throats were slit. After ending the life of one baby boy who was at least 32 weeks, one of Gosnell’s employees said that Gosnell jokingly stated “this baby is big enough to walk around with me or walk me to the bus stop.”

This all could have been stopped. Years of time and numerous opportunities passed while nothing was done. The State Health Department, the National Abortion Federation and local hospitals in Philadelphia were all aware of dark, dirty and deadly deeds going on in Gosnell’s facility, but repeatedly did nothing. The district attorney said, “we think the reason no one acted is because the women in question were poor and of color, because the victims were infants without identities, and because the subject was the political football of abortion.”

While abortion remains the leading cause of death in the African-American community Dr. Gosnell is an African American who preyed upon pregnant black women by killing their babies, taking their money and in many cases ruining their lives. Another interesting fact in this case is that the District Attorney R. Seth Williams who is seeking justice to right the wrongs perpetrated by Gosnell and his cohorts, is an African-American.

I realize this is pretty shocking news and if you’ll read the summarized overview of the District Attorney’s report you’ll discover even more shocking information. Let’s face it, whether babies are killed after being delivered alive or killed inside the womb, abortion is shocking. But, is it shocking enough for you to get involved? Is it shocking enough for you to be a voice for the voiceless pre-born babies who cannot speak or defend themselves? Is it shocking enough for you to consistently engage others in meaningful dialog about abortion and its devastating aftermath?

The National Black Prolife Coalition refuses to be silent. How about you? Let’s work to create a different kind of Black History by refusing to be silent about the atrocities surrounding Dr. Kermit Gosnell and about abortion in the African-American community in general.

Let’s end abortion in America together.

Arnold M. Culbreath is the Urban Outreach Director of Life Issues Institute, Inc. With degrees in Architectural Engineering and Theology, Arnold has worked simultaneously in both fields for many years. Throughout his life, he has been intentional in promoting racial reconciliation and developing cross-racial relationships, positively impacting lives on many different levels. [5 Feb 2011, REPRINTED FROM www.ProtectingBlackLife.org ;
http://www.blackprolifecoalition.org/black-history-the-good-the-bad/]

Dark Abortion-Related Realities in the Black Community Revealed
The recent indictment and arrest of Pennsylvania abortionist Kermit Gosnell shocked many in the black community. In a raid of his facilities police found jars containing the remains of pre-born babies dating back 30 years along with squalid and unsafe conditions. The National Black Prolife Coalition is outraged as more and more abortionists are being exposed for similar unsafe and abusive practices.

Charges against abortionists such as Nicola Riley, Andrew Rutland and James Pendergraft include frightening women into agreeing to unnecessary hysterectomies, botching surgeries, lying to patients, falsifying medical records, over-prescribing painkillers and having sex with patients. One of these abortionists perforated the uterus and pulled out part of a woman's intestine. Another heads a secret "Fetal Lethal Injection Center" in the Washington, D. C. metro area where late-term abortions are partially completed.

All of these abortionists set up shop in urban areas where blacks reside targeting black women. Stephen Broden of The Fair Park Bible Fellowship in Dallas Texas calls for new measures of accountability from black leaders. "Leaders such as Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, the NAACP, Urban League, and The Congressional Black Caucus have capitulated to the abortion industry for their personal gain. By their silence or outright support of abortion they encourage these butchers in their targeting of our women and babies for profit."

"If silence is indeed consent the Congressional Black Caucus and the NAACP have not only consented to Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry's murder of black babies, but are complicit in the horrific reality of genocide of their own people," said Walter Hoye of Issues4Life Foundation.

Will Ford of Ex Ministries agreed. "The Congressional Black Caucus has a 100% voting record in favor of taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood. This is a travesty in light of Planned Parenthood's targeting of the black community since its inception as a means of population control."

"These national black organizations are in partnership with Planned Parenthood, an organization that is not genuinely concerned about the betterment of the black community," said Arnold Culbreath of Protecting Black Life.

"The atrocities uncovered in the Kermit Gosnell case, as detailed in District Attorney R. Seth Williams' report, highlight very dark abortion-related realities in the black community. It is time for national outrage and dialog about abortion, the leading cause of death in the African American community."

For more information visit NBPC -- http://www.blackprolifecoalition.org/
[ATLANTA, Feb. 17, 2011 /Christian Newswire]

Vegetative State Patients May Soon Be Able to Communicate
(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers from Cambridge University in the UK have been able to communicate with brain-injured patients in "locked states" commonly referred to as persistent vegetative states (PVS). They predict such patients will soon be able to communicate and perhaps even move themselves around in motorized wheelchairs.

Neuroscientist Dr. Adrian Owen and colleagues used electroencephalography (EEG) monitors connected to 128 electrodes in a cap placed on the heads of brain injured patients, and were able to understand responses from them.

Owen thinks a similar system connected to a computer will be able to decode messages from their brains and allow them to communicate via a voice synthesizer and even control a motorized wheelchair.

These systems could be available within a decade.

Dr. Owen used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) brain scans to prove that one PVS victim could understand queries and give “yes” or “no” answers to simple questions. The 29-year-old male patient had suffered brain damage in a car accident in 2003, and had been in a coma for two years before entering a persistent vegetative state. He appeared to be awake and blinked occasionally, but otherwise showed no signs of awareness.

The team used the fMRI scanner to measure the patient’s brain response while asking him questions. Brain signals associated with “yes” and “no” are complex and quite similar, and to overcome this problem the researchers asked the patient to imagine playing tennis for “yes” and walking through his home for “no”.

Tennis movements activate regions at the top of the brain associated with spatial activities, while moving around the home is a navigational task that activates areas in the base of the brain. Using this technique the patient was able to correctly answer six test questions.

The team has now shown that similar responses could be achieved using EEG monitors, which measure electrical activity in the brain. EEG has the advantages of being much cheaper, smaller, and more portable than fMRI, which uses magnetic fields and radio waves to detect electrical pulses in the brain. EEG also gives results much more quickly than fMRI, making a conversation possible.

Dr. Owen said “we have seen something that is quite extraordinary” and that we now have a moral and ethical obligation to find ways to help patients in persistent vegetative states to communicate. The communication will be via yes/no questions, but he said “you can get a long way with yes/no questions.”

The research findings suggest about 20 percent of PVS sufferers could be able to communicate, and this may raise questions about switching off life support systems for such patients.

Dr. Owen and several members of team will soon be transferring to research posts at the University of Western Ontario in Canada, where they will receive a grant worth around 20 million US dollars to continue the research.

More information: -- Monti MM, Vanhaudenhuyse A, Coleman MR, Boly M, Pickard JD, Tshibanda L, Owen AM, Laureys S (2010), “Willful modulation of brain activity in disorders of consciousness.” N Engl J Med 362(7):579-89
-- Owen AM, Coleman MR, Davis MH, Boly M, Laureys S, Pickard JD (2006), “Detecting awareness in the vegetative state” Science 313:1402
[September 22, 2010 by Lin Edwards, http://www.physorg.com/news204349025.html ; Communication in the vegetative state (Owen et al., Science, 2006; Monti et al., NEJM, 2010)

Risk and Reward in Utero
The two mothers-to-be felt the same urgency. Told that their babies had potentially crippling spina bifida, both women hoped to receive an ambitious surgery that closes the hole in the spine while babies are in the womb.

Their only access was through a clinical trial testing whether risky prenatal surgery was better than standard surgery after birth. Participating meant being randomly assigned to one surgery or the other.

“They take you to a room and a paper tells you what part of the trial you were randomized to,” said Jessica Thomas, 26, of Stansbury Park, Utah, assigned to prenatal surgery when pregnant with her son Tyson. “It was my only sense of hope to try to give him a better life.”

Amy Shapiro, 40, of Leander, Tex., was assigned to postnatal surgery, performed on her son Zachary the day after he was born.

“It was one of the hardest decisions I had to make to be in the study,” said Ms. Shapiro, who knew how disabling spina bifida was because her sister-in-law has it. “It was a big disappointment that we didn’t get the prenatal surgery because I knew that that was the surgery that was most likely going to help him the most, because otherwise why would they be doing the study? But at the same time, he could have died or been born prematurely from prenatal surgery. When they explained everything to us, I wanted to be in it regardless.”

Now, results are in: Fetal surgery, while increasing premature births and causing tearing at some mother’s incisions, made babies more likely to walk and less likely to have neurological problems or need shunts to drain brain fluid.

Besides the groundbreaking results, the seven-year study spotlights ethical dilemmas in research.

The surgery was becoming popular in the 1990s, even appearing on a Time magazine cover, and some experts believed that it might eventually eliminate most symptoms. But given the risks, others wanted proof that it was better than postnatal surgery.

“There were no systematic data regarding safety and efficacy,” said Dr. Jeremy Sugarman, a bioethicist at Johns Hopkins University who participated in early discussions. “Many things we believe to be true and right and appropriate ultimately are shown to be harmful and ineffective.” Spina bifida researchers believed that few women would participate if the surgery were available elsewhere, so they persuaded all but the three hospitals in the trial to stop doing the procedure, an unusual agreement.

“I frankly have a lot of problems when a group of physicians get together and in effect shut down everything so they can have a trial,” said Baruch A. Brody, director of the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor College of Medicine. “For physicians who believe in it, why should they be pressured into stopping? For families who believe they should have the surgery, why should they be told they can’t?”

But several ethicists praised the pause. “It’s impressive to see that kind of collaboration,” said Dr. Jeffrey R. Botkin, a pediatric ethicist at the University of Utah. “The sophistication surgeons need to do this is so high, it makes sense to answer research questions by allowing it only at a few centers.”

The surgery proved beneficial enough that an independent monitoring board stopped the trial, not wanting to deny more women the opportunity for prenatal surgery. But stopping trials early sometimes limits the information researchers can collect that might benefit future patients.

Monitoring boards “walk a very fine line,” said Dr. Steven Goodman, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins and editor of the journal Clinical Trials. “At what point is the benefit of getting more information outweighed by the consequences of not releasing results and continuing to randomize patients?”

In some trials, if one treatment proves superior, other participants can then receive that treatment. But with prenatal surgery, that isn’t possible, said Jeffrey Kahn, director of the University of Minnesota’s bioethics center. “Some people are accepting risk for the benefit of those who will come after them.”

Still, regardless of therapy, “people who enroll in clinical trials, for the most part, do better than people who don’t, because care is controlled and monitored,” Dr. Goodman said. “You simply can’t go back and say, ‘In every trial people who didn’t get the winning therapy were deprived.’ ”

Tyson Thomas emerged from prenatal surgery with no need for a shunt and, at 22 months old, uses a walker but is almost walking independently. Zachary Shapiro, 6, has a shunt, walks with braces, and has some attention problems. Both boys, who received their surgery at the University of California, San Francisco, need catheters.

Ms. Shapiro, a kindergarten teacher, said of her son, “I do feel like he benefited, even though he didn’t benefit from the actual surgery.”

She added, “He benefited from the research that has happened about his disability.”
[February 12, 2011, Pam Belluck, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/weekinreview/13belluck.html?_r=1&ref=weekinreview&pagewanted=print




First Amendment Protection for Pro-lifers (Allott): Abortion Providers Losing Battle to Mislabel Pregnancy Clinics    

...Abortion rights legislators are waging a campaign to put [Pregnancy Resource Centers] PRCs out of business by passing laws that create special speech rules for the pro-life centers. However, armed with the Constitution and testimony from women who have been helped by their free services, PRCs are fighting back - and winning.

Late last month, a Baltimore city ordinance requiring PRCs to post signs telling clients that they do not offer abortions or birth control was struck down by a federal judge. The ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed last March by the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

"Whether a provider of pregnancy-related services is 'pro-life' or 'pro-choice,' " the judge wrote in his decision, "it is for the provider - not the government - to decide when and how to discuss abortion and birth control methods." Or, as Mark Rienzi, plaintiffs' counsel in the case [law professor, Catholic University] told me, "There is no abortion exception to the First Amendment."

Unfortunately, the threat from anti-PRC laws is escalating: At least a dozen anti-PRC bills have been considered at various levels of government over the past couple of years.

A 2010 Montgomery County, Md., law requires the county's nonmedical pregnancy centers to post signs essentially telling clients that they are not legitimate health clinics and that pregnant women should seek services elsewhere. Noncompliance could lead to fines of up to $750 a day. One of the centers affected, Centro Tepeyac Women's Center of Silver Spring, sued Montgomery County over the law. A ruling is pending.

New proposals in Washington state and New York City would force PRCs to post disclosures not only in their centers but also on their websites and in all advertisements.

The Baltimore ruling is a huge blow to abortion rights groups, which have long claimed that PRCs lure abortion-minded women into their clinics, confuse them with false information about the health risks associated with abortion and shame them into not aborting by showing them fetal development models and ultrasound images of their babies.

But no proof of any coercion or deception has ever been produced. I reviewed several pamphlets given to women at PRCs. They are evenhanded in their discussions of even the most contentious issues, including the possible links between abortion and breast cancer and abortion and depression.

For instance, regarding the breast cancer link, "Before You Decide," a pamphlet offered by PRCs affiliated with CareNet, a network of 1,100 PRCs, says, "Medical experts continue to debate the association between abortion and breast cancer." It also says, "A number of reliable studies have concluded that there is an association between abortion and the later development of breast cancer." All of this is true.

A study last year in the journal Cancer Epidemiology concluded that an abortion can triple a woman's subsequent risk of developing breast cancer. A 2009 study co-authored by Dr. Louise Brinton of the National Cancer Institute found that induced abortion may increase a woman's risk of breast cancer.

PRCs provide a range of services - pregnancy tests, adoption referrals and sonograms, job training, legal help, mentoring programs and material support such as diapers and baby clothes. All of it is free for the women.

In contrast, the services provided by Planned Parenthood and other abortion facilities can be lucrative for the facilities. According to data released recently by the Guttmacher Institute, the averageamount paid for a non-hospital abortion with local anesthesia at 10 weeks' gestation is $451. The median charge for an abortion at 20 weeks' gestation is $1,500.

Those fees add up quickly for Planned Parenthood, whose hundreds of thousands of abortions annually make it America's largest abortion provider. According to its Internal Revenue Service Form 990 tax filing, Planned Parenthood's fiscal 2009 net profit was $21.7 million. Planned Parenthood receives more than $350 million yearly in taxpayer-funded grants and contracts.

It's no mystery why PRCs are being attacked: They're taking business away from the abortion industry by offering women with unplanned pregnancies the resources and encouragement they need to choose life. Their existence is perhaps the main reason whythe number of annual abortions has decreased 25 percent, from 1.6 million 1.2 million over the past two decades, according to Guttmacher.

The more than 3,000 national PRCs outnumber the dwindling number of abortion facilities. A recent Harvard study found that the number of Planned Parenthood affiliates has dropped from 163 in 1994 to 91 in 2009.

The Baltimore law isn't the only anti-PRC bill to run into trouble. Bills in Virginia, Maryland and Oregon, as well as a proposed federal law, have all failed to become law. Virginia is particularly illustrative of the effect PRCs are having.

Last year, a number of anti-PRC laws were proposed in the commonwealth's House and Senate. Not one made it out of its respective committee in either house. In fact, the bills were dismissed almost immediately after legislators heard testimony from pregnancy center directors, former clients and medical staff.

Then, a few weeks later, both houses passed a resolution praising the work of Virginia's 52 pro-life pregnancy centers.

The abortion industry's contention that PRCs don't meet the reproductive health needs of women with unplanned pregnancies is eroding in the face of reality. As Virginia Cline, public relations director at Heartbeat International, which assists more than 900 PRCs nationwide, told me, "We just have a very different view of what reproductive health means."

[11 Feb 2011, Daniel Allott, The Washington Times, http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/feb/11/first-amendment-protection-for-pro-lifers/print/ ; Daniel Allott is senior writer at American Values and a Washington fellow with the National Review Institute.]

Pro-lifers Worldwide Gear Up for Largest Ever 40 Days for Life Campaign – 243 Cities

This spring pro-life advocates in 243 cities around the globe are gearing up to participate in the wildly successful 40 Days for Life initiative. The coordinated international campaign begins March 9 and runs through April 17, coinciding with the Christian season of Lent.

The campaign will stretch from coast to coast in the United States, and extend into Canada, England, Ireland, Australia, Belize, Spain, Georgia and Armenia.

“With the dramatic changes in congressional leadership, negative attention surrounding Planned Parenthood and the rest of the abortion industry, and the monumental shift in public attitudes regarding the right to life, we have reached a cultural tipping point,” said Shawn Carney, campaign director of 40 Days for Life. “Against that backdrop, we are preparing to launch the largest-ever 40 Days for Life campaign.”

40 Days for Life consists of 40 days of prayer and fasting for an end to abortion, 40 days of constant, peaceful vigil outside abortion centers and Planned Parenthood offices and 40 days of pro-life community outreach. The list of participating communities is posted online here.

The 40 Days for Life movement continues to grow. Thus far, seven coordinated national 40 Days for Life campaigns have been conducted, twice each year, beginning in the fall of 2007. More than 400,000 people in some 337 cities have already taken part. Nine abortion centers have closed following 40 Days for Life prayer vigils, and at least 43 abortion industry employees have quit their jobs, including Abby Johnson, a former director of a Planned Parenthood facility.

“The best news,” Carney said, “is that there are 3,599 children - and their mothers - who were spared from abortion. And of course, those are just the ones we know about. There may be countless others.”

“Just the sight of people peacefully praying can touch the consciences of those who are so desperate they think abortion is a solution,” he said. “We know of many cases where minds have been changed - and lives saved - without a single word ever being spoken.”  [Feb 09, 2011, John Jalsevac, LifeSiteNews.com,   http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/pro-lifers-worldwide-gear-up-for-largest-ever-40-days-for-life-campaign-243?utm_source=LifeSiteNews.com+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=04f6b7431e-LifeSiteNews_com_US_Headlines02_09_2011&utm_medium=email

Mother Diagnosed With Cancer Stuns Doctors who Advised Abortion
A courageous young mother was told to have abortion before beginning cancer treatment - but has stunned doctors as she gave birth to a healthy baby girl and simultaneously beat cancer.

Victoria Webster, 33, was given the choice to either begin chemotherapy and lose her baby or risk her own life and wait for the chemo until after she'd given birth.

Victoria, was diagnosed with leukaemia during her 21 week of pregnancy and decided against the doctors recommendations at Hartlands Hospital in Birmingham to abort her baby and seek chemotherapy treatment.

"To me, there was no decision to make", said Victoria. "I had already bonded with my baby while she was growing inside me and as her mum, I had to protect her." Victoria went on to say, "Doctors kept telling me I should have a termination but I had made up my mind, and my husband Martyn supported me."

Victoria, who also has a son, Lewis, four, began feeling tired and dizzy as soon as she fell pregnant with baby Jessica. After a routine blood test at 21 weeks, she was told she had chronic myeloid leukaemia – a cancer of the blood, which is very rare in patients under 50.

After defying doctors for the sake of her baby she gave birth to Jessica by caesarean section in April 2010. Victoria began a course of chemotherapy tablets immediately following Jessica's birth and according to her doctors she is responding well to treatment and they are confident that she will soon be rid of her cancer altogether.

Victoria said: "Hopefully before long, I'll be in remission. I'm just grateful to be here. I'll never regret keeping my little girl and delaying treatment. I might have risked my life for her, but she was worth it."

"It's the best decision I have ever made," Victoria concluded. "I can't imagine life without my daughter."

Pro-life activists have pointed out that in Ireland every effort would have been made to save both mother and baby, and that Victoria would have been offered early delivery if she needed to begin chemotherapy while the baby was still in the womb. This treatment is available to women even where the early delivery may inadvertently cause the death of the unborn baby. Unfortunately, in other jurisdictions, such as the UK, medical professions immediately move to abort the baby.
[11 Feb 2011, http://www.youthdefence.ie/latest-news/mother-diagnosed-with-cancer-stuns-doctors-who-advised-abortion/

Technology & Barbarism
Yesterday was my birthday.  I spent it at the doctor's office with my husband, my mom and my sister-in-law getting a 4-D ultrasound of our sweet Baby C. Yesterday I was excited and happy to see my little one.

But today I'm angry.  I saw my baby smile.  React.  Cringe.  Swat.  Move.  Wink.  I saw his precious face, which will change little in the next three months.  I saw a baby.  A human.  A 28-week old "fetus" ("little one").  I feel him in my stomach jump and kick and punch and get the hiccups.  

And I'm angry because it is still legal to walk into an abortion business and have him killed.

Today I'm broken hearted for all the babies who were not conceived by parents that understand this logical truth, parents that are blind to the reality of what's happening in the womb.  

I know we all fight hard to defend life, but pray with me that this Pro-life month changes hearts, lives and laws, and that one day when sweet Baby C is grown, legal abortion will be a distant memory.  And that he will be flabbergasted to learn that he could have been legally aborted in this country throughout all 9 months of gestation, despite these phenomenal technological advances which proved his personhood.  Pray that the scales fall from our nation's eyes.
[JSC, 9 Feb 2011, Survivors]





Hospital’s Commitment to Reversing Late-Term Abortions Gains National Media Attention: Chicago’s Resurrection Hospital is making national news with its new commitment to reversing mid-term abortions for women who have changed their minds and wish to have their babies.

The program, which was formally dedicated on January 26, is called the Bethlehem Project, and is being conducted in cooperation with Chicago’s Pro-Life Action League and the Chicago Women’s Center.  It assists women to reverse a second-trimester abortion known as Dilation and Evacuation (D&E), a procedure that takes two days to complete.

[ED. Extremely painful to the preborn human child, the D&E is now performed more often because the Partial-Birth Abortion technique has been banned.]

Women undergoing a D&E abortion must pass through a 24-hour period in which their cervix is dilated using laminaria made from seaweed or another substance, which slowly expands. After the cervix has been opened sufficiently, the abortionist applies a vacuum hose and forceps to tear the unborn child to pieces, which are removed one by one until the entire body is extracted.

Through the Bethlehem Project, Resurrection Hospital is committed to removing the laminaria from the cervix of women who do not wish to complete their abortions, and to give them whatever medical attention is necessary to protect their health and that of their unborn children, something abortion providers are hesitant or unwilling to do.

The story of the hospital’s commitment to the unborn is now being reported by news organizations across the United States, including Time Magazine, the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, and Fox News.

The CEO of Resurrection Hospital told the Chicago Tribune that stopping abortions is “part of who we are,” and added that “Catholic health care is to reach out to people and help them in their need. Of course, it’s vital to be true to the ethics we believe in. Holding life sacred is a big piece of what we believe.”

“We hope that in other parts of the country where abortion clinics are doing late term abortions, sidewalk counselors can forge similar relationships with Catholic or Christian hospitals to meet the needs of women who want to reverse the abortion procedure and choose life for their babies,” said Ann Scheidler of the Pro-Life Action League. “We’re happy to help make that happen.”

Three unborn children have reportedly been saved by the program since it began in October.  The Tribune quotes one beneficiary of the program who was stopped by a “pushy” priest who encouraged her to halt her second-trimester abortion.

“Thank God this man stopped us,” the woman said in an anonymous interview. “He saved the life of my baby and maybe he saved my life too.”
[Feb 11, 2011, M.C. Hoffman, CHICAGO, LifeSiteNews.com,  http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/hospitals-commitment-to-reversing-abortions-gains-national-media-attention?utm_source=LifeSiteNews.com+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=68777989db-LifeSiteNews_com_US_Headlines02_11_2011&utm_medium=email



Saskatchewan Physician Guidelines Outline Numerous Risks of Abortion

Recently revised guidelines of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan (CPSS) outline many of the numerous risks of abortion and the duty of the counseling physician or abortionist to inform any woman contemplating abortion of these risks.

Yesterday, the CPSS issued the revised guidelines for “unplanned pregnancy.” They sparked national news coverage due to the new clarification that says pro-life physicians should refer women considering an abortion to another physician.

What news sources failed to mention, however, is the clear mandate in the guidelines that physicians provide extensive and accurate information to a woman about all her options, any “community agencies and services that may be of assistance to her in pursuing each option,” and any risks, to ensure that she able to give informed consent.

With regard to the option of abortion the guidelines state that information that should be provided includes not only the “precise nature” of the abortion procedure, but also “the known immediate risks.” The document gives as examples of the immediate risks “uterine perforation, infection, hemorrhage.”

Physicians should also inform women of the “known long-term risks,” including “impact on future fertility, incidence of future spontaneous abortions, ectopic pregnancy and premature birth” as well as “the known psychological risks.”

The document also points out that “an unplanned pregnancy is not necessarily an unwanted pregnancy.”

Muriel Nielsen, president of the Saskatchewan Pro-Life Association, said that in her experience most doctors don’t follow the guidelines that require them to provide adequate information.  Many, she said, simply “rubber-stamp” the abortion, if that is what a patient asks for, without offering sufficient information of the potential risks.

“[Pregnant women] are not given any information that the guidelines for physicians are supposed to be telling these girls and women,” said Nielsen.

“No. 1, they need to follow their own guidelines. We deal with post-abortion women who were not given any information of this sort, were not told of the risks, were not told that there were places to help them.”

Mary Ellen Douglas, National Coordinator for Campaign Life Coalition, told LifeSiteNews.com that she has never seen or heard of official guidelines with such a detailed response for “unplanned pregnancy.”

“It’s important that a woman coming in with an unplanned pregnancy gets all the options,” said Douglas.  They have a “right to know.”  [11 Feb 2011, Rebecca Millette, SASKATCHEWAN, LifeSiteNews.com, http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/sask-physician-guidelines-outline-numerous-risks-of-abortion?utm_source=LifeSiteNews.com+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=68777989db-LifeSiteNews_com_US_Headlines02_11_2011&utm_medium=email

100,000 Expected to March for Life in Philippines this Weekend

On Sunday, February 13, an anticipated 100,000 pro-life activists will march through Manila in opposition to a so-called “Responsible Parenthood” bill that has been repackaged to appeal to the pro-life majority of Filipinos. Experts say, however, that the new version of the bill is “far worse” than the original “Reproductive Health” bill, and that both versions have been promoted aggressively with hundreds of millions of dollars by Western organizations. The “Responsible Parenthood” bill may be approved as early as mid-March 2011.

“Since the revised bill has been certified as a priority bill by President Aquino, they are railroading the process,” said Dr. Rene Bullecer, Country Director for HLI Philippines. “And this bill is far worse than the original ‘Reproductive Health’ bill. It was renamed to give the Catholic president cover in supporting it, but Filipinos are not fooled. That is why at least 100,000 of us will be marching on the capital on Sunday, to defend life and our families!”

“Our President run and won on an anti-corruption anti-poverty platform,” said Dr. Ligaya Acosta, HLI’s Regional Director for Asia and Oceania, who also was a Health Minister for the Philippines before her conversion on life issues. “We wish to tell him there is a corruption worse than corruption of money, and that is corruption of human lives and moral values ... and there is a poverty worse than material poverty and that is spiritual poverty.

“We also wish to remind our legislators that we elected them to serve the authentic aspirations of the Filipino people and not to serve the imperialistic agenda of international death peddlers who are bribing them with mind-boggling amounts of money.”

It is estimated that Western organizations such as USAID and UNFPA have spent over $600 million in the Philippines promoting both pieces of legislation.  [11 Feb 2011, Kathleen Gilbert, MANILA, Philippines, LifeSiteNews.com,
http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/100000-expected-to-march-for-life-in-philippines-this-weekend?utm_source=LifeSiteNews.com+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=68777989db-LifeSiteNews_com_US_Headlines02_11_2011&utm_medium=email




Commentary: Why Planned Parenthood Must Be Defunded

By now everyone has seen clips of the Live Action videos where Planned Parenthood staffers aid and abet a purported pimp and prostitute seeking abortion, birth control, and STD testing for their underage sex workers. But this is not the primary reason that Planned Parenthood should cease getting one red cent in taxpayer funding.

Planned Parenthood is America’s largest abortion provider. They make tens of millions in profit from abortion every year and have over $1 billion in assets. It is well known that the same teenage and college girls who frequent Planned Parenthood’s doors to get the pill for themselves or condoms for their boyfriend head right back to these same clinics for an abortion or referral when those devices fail.

Unfortunately that fact alone hasn’t been enough to capture the American consciousness to the degree necessary to overcome a pro-funding lobby dedicated to protecting an annual $360 million river of taxpayer money. There are many evils in the world, and this one seems relatively minor to many folks. As long as we’re not directly funding abortions, how bad can it be? Plus, doesn’t Planned Parenthood do other good work such as providing checkups for poor women and minimizing unintended pregnancies?

Planned Parenthood largely has a good reputation in the public. Just yesterday, an activist told me that an internal poll in her state showed that 80% of their citizens had favorable views of Planned Parenthood.

Even their name sounds good – who doesn’t want to ‘plan their parenthood’?

But thanks to Lila Rose and Live Action, now that’s all changed. The American people can now see for themselves just what does happen inside many of these facilities. They can see how a pro-abortion, free-sex mentality can color the entire perspective of these Planned Parenthood staffers in a way that even leads them to aid and abet illegal conduct.

These films are a catalyst, a spark that’s been needed to awaken American consciousness to be able to hear why Planned Parenthood should be defunded. Simply put, since Planned Parenthood is in the abortion business, taxpayer funding of their other services aids and abets their abortion business. They shouldn’t get any subsidies from taxpayers, period.

It is our task now to deliver the full argument and make the sale.
[Feb 11, 2011, Daniel McConchie,   http://www.lifesitenews.com/blog/why-planned-parenthood-must-be-defunded?utm_source=LifeSiteNews.com+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=68777989db-LifeSiteNews_com_US_Headlines02_11_2011&utm_medium=email

Activists Who Investigate Planned Parenthood Are Doing What Law Enforcement Has Failed to Do, Congressman Says

Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) is a long time human rights activist who claims abortion violates the human rights of the unborn. He spoke on Feb. 10 at the press conference, praising Live Action's work and criticizing law enforcement for not investigating claims of misconduct by Planned Parenthood staff at abortion clinics across the nation. (CNSNews.com/Penny Starr)

Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) said the undercover videos released in recent days by the pro-life advocacy group Live Action are doing the job that law enforcement should be doing to investigate Planned Parenthood abortion clinics.

“The way that law enforcement often apprehends criminals is through sting operations,” Smith said at a Thursday press conference on Capitol Hill about defunding Planned Parenthood.

“What Lila Rose and Live Action has done is a sting operation, and that’s why I would reiterate this: It’s an engraved invitation for law enforcement to cease its looking askance at [Planned Parenthood’s] exploitation of young girls and to begin investigating these abortion clinics [sic] run by Planned Parenthood and others," said Smith.

Over the past three years, Live Action has produced videos and has conducted other undercover operations in Planned Parenthood abortion clinics [sic].

Those investigations were done at Planned Parenthood clinics [sic] in 11 states.

Live Action’s latest investigation focused on staff at Planned Parenthood abortion clinics [sic] in New Jersey, New York, Virginia and the District of Columbia, where staff allegedly cooperated with actors posing as pimps seeking treatment, including abortions, for their underage sex workers.

Over the past week, Live Action has released six videos from all seven clinics [sic] the actors visited in those states.

Smith, who is chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health and Global Human Rights, said he has written legislation to combat human and sex trafficking in the United States.

Lila Rose, president of Live Action, joined lawmakers and pro-life advocates to talk at a press conference on Feb. 10 about halting federal funding to Planned Parenthood, the nation's largest abortion provider. (CNSNews.com/Penny Starr)

Smith suggested that reporters can launch their own investigations on Planned Parenthood’s abortion operations, but law enforcement should start doing its job now.

“The time is long past due for them to be doing their own sting operations the way Lila Rose and Live Action has done so bravely,” Smith said.

Members of the Pro-Life Women’s Caucus at the conference included Reps. Jean Schmidt, chairwoman, Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), Vicky Hartzler (R-Mont.), Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.) and Ann Marie Buerkle (R-N.Y.)

Pro-life advocacy groups that called for defunding Planned Parenthood at the conference included Students for Life for America, Concerned Women of America, Americans United for Life Action, and the Susan B. Anthony List, which partnered with Live Action to launch the Web site www.exposeplannedparenthood.com.

“Based on what we have seen in these videos, Planned Parenthood clinics [sic] are not safe for women,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of SBA List, said.  “By defunding the organization of the hundreds of millions of tax dollars it receives each year, Americans will no longer be participating in its egregious activities.”

The latest Planned Parenthood annual report disclosed that the organization received more than $363 million in government grants and contracts, including funds from the federal Title X Family Planning, for Fiscal Year 2008-2009.  In 2008, Planned Parenthood reported performing 324,008 abortions. [February 10, 2011, Penny Starr, CNSNews.com   http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/live-action-s-stings-planned-parenthood]
www.exposeplannedparenthood.com

Lila Rose: The Top Six Planned Parenthood Deceptions in Response to Sex-trafficking Exposé

Over the past week, Live Action has released six videos revealing Planned Parenthood’s willingness to aid and abet the sex traffickers of underage girls. Since the beginning of our release, Planned Parenthood has attacked our organization and attempted to discredit the growing evidence of institutional and rampant abuse cover up. Here is a top six list of some of the deceiving statements that Planned Parenthood has made in just the past few days.

Deception 6) “We reported this to the FBI”

Planned Parenthood wrote the FBI a letter a week AFTER our investigation, only after they realized that Live Action had conducted the sting. They say this themselves. As much as they may pretend, Planned Parenthood was not attempting to help send human traffickers to jail; they were attempting to pre-empt the release of Live Action’s footage.

If Planned Parenthood really cared about reporting potential sex traffickers to authorities, they would have called police while the pimp was in the clinic, or immediately after. Not wasting a minute. Planned Parenthood, where are the reports from the now SIX clinics we’ve released, that you immediately called the police?

Why did all your staffers, instead of refusing service or gathering information from the pimp about his sex ring to inform authorities, GIVE the pimp information about how to access the Planned Parenthood system for secret services?

Deception 5) Live Action Videos Are All “Doctored” and a “Hoax”

We have heard this tired claim from Planned Parenthood every time we release a video. Yet every time we’ve released a video, we post the full, unedited footage online for all to see, and send the full, unedited footage to state and federal authorities. Planned Parenthood can’t argue with the full footage.

See Vice-President Stuart Schear on camera claiming our tapes are doctored, then admitting he hasn’t even seen them.

Planned Parenthood, if you really think our videos are “fake”, “doctored” and a “hoax”, why did you yesterday claim that you will be retraining your entire staff of 11,000?

Deception 4) “We are retraining our entire staff of 11,000″

First of all, we have heard the “retraining staff” excuse before. When Live Action released undercover footage in December of 2008 showing the sexual abuse cover up of a 13 year old girl at Planned Parenthood, the organization called for “re-training”. Clearly, that re-training (whatever it was) didn’t last very long, if two years later Planned Parenthood workers are caught on tape working with human traffickers to provide services, ways to get around pesky parental involvement laws that protect children, tax-funded discounts, and even business advice.

But more to the point: Are Planned Parenthood workers “trainable”? Our tapes show them repeatedly and unabashedly doing “business as usual” with the self-disclosed seller of underage girls’ bodies for sex. The brutal business of human trafficking cannot be taken seriously enough.

Yet instead of showing even basic concern for the victims, Planned Parenthood workers across the board are happy to help the serial abuser.

And another important question: Can Planned Parenthood be trusted to train its staff sufficiently? What does it say about an organization’s leadership if their staff–from managers, to supervisors, to clinicians, to staffers–unequivocally and without question show willingness to do secret business with a pimp?

A final question: How exactly will Planned Parenthood be “training” it’s staff? Will the training be a special seminar on how to recognize Live Action cameras?

Deception 3) Virginia Staff Acted “Professionally”

This is one of the most disturbing statements we have heard yet from Planned Parenthood higher-ups.

Virginia staff, on all four tapes released in Virginia, were very helpful to the self-identified pimp of underage sex slaves. Staffers assured him it was confidential, offered him information on how to get cheaper birth control, on how to get free STD testing, told him how to use the website and phone system. And even coached him how to use judicial bypasses to get secret abortions for his underage sex slaves.

These are the actions that Planned Parenthood is calling “professional”. Does anyone think that it is professional to give a brutal sex trafficker of children advice on how to use the system?

This is not professional; this is criminal. It is criminal and incredibly offensive and harmful to the victims of abuse across our nation.

And keep in mind: If Virginia staff acted “professionally”, then is this how the public can expect Planned Parenthood to “train” their staff of 11,000?

Deception 2) This is an “isolated incident”

A favorite of Planned Parenthood’s. Every time Live Action releases a video (and we’ve released over 16 now), it is “an isolated incident”. Let the facts speak for themselves. Look at the evidence. For over three years our team has been investigating the institutional sex abuse cover up at Planned Parenthood abortion clinics.

Even before the human trafficking footage, we released 10 clinics that revealed the sexual abuse cover up of minors as young as 13. In these 10 clinics, we had actors posing as the underage girls, self-reporting abuse and asking for help. In every case, Planned Parenthood worked to cover up the abuse of the underage girl and did not comply with the mandatory reporting laws for sexual abuse. Instead of help and safety, the underage girls are coached by Planned Parenthood staffers on how to cover up abuse and get secret abortions.

Live Action has now released video from six more clinics in the past week, all showing Planned Parenthood workers, at all levels of the organization, willing to aid and abet the human traffickers of underage girls.

This is an institutional crisis that has engulfed the whole organization. No matter how many times Planned Parenthood’s PR firm says “isolated incident”, the growing body of evidence still stands.

Deception 1) We have a zero-tolerance policy for abuse, and you should trust us

If anyone can still believe this, I don’t know if there is any evidence in the world that will convince them otherwise.

The growing body of evidence reveals that Planned Parenthood unequivocally covers up the sex abuse of young victims and is willing to work with the abusers.  Our undercover actors could not have said who they were and what they represented more clearly. 

Planned Parenthood repeatedly looked the other way.

It is a federal crime to aid and abet in the trafficking of underage persons.

What is a better way to aid and abet a pimp of young girls, than to give him all the secret abortions, birth control and the services that a pimp would need to keep his sex slaves on the street?
[February 9, 2011, Lila Rose, LiveAction.org.    http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/lila-rose-the-top-six-planned-parenthood-deceptions-in-response-to-our-expo?utm_source=LifeSiteNews.com+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=04f6b7431e-LifeSiteNews_com_US_Headlines02_09_2011&utm_medium=email

PP & Sex-Trafficking... Is Anyone REALLY Surprised?
Planned Parenthood fights against Parental Consent laws; they fight against Abstinence Education for our children; they have soft porn teen websites; they hook teens on chemical contraceptives ($$) KNOWING they will get pregnant; they funnel them for abortions...
WHY would ANYONE be surprised at this 'alleged' additional PP activity?
Another expose' of Planned Parenthood's alleged illegal activities covering up an underage sex ring. Lila Rose was the speaker at the PLAM 2009 Life Banquet.  Another remarkable sting of the world's largest abortion provider...  Video: http://www.facebook.com/l/e40ccnk9ZD1wefgcDiQL1CwqvNA;www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9Zj9yx2j0Y&feature=player_embedded[1 Feb 2011, plam.org]

Planned Parenthood Caught on Video Covering Up Sex Trafficking

The nation’s largest abortion business has been caught in video in an undercover investigation covering up for and coaching a man and a woman posing as sex traffickers and inquiring about how to obtain abortions for the women they victimized.
The sting operation has the actors looking into testing for sexually transmitted diseases and contraception and birth control for their female underage sex slaves. Planned Parenthood officials say they want to help the pair make their whole operation “look as legit as possible.”

The pro-life student-led organization Live Action released the video footage this morning, which already received national attention when Planned Parenthood officials went public with information concerning their complaints to the FBI abut the undercover activity. The complaints were met with scoffs by those who believe the abortion business was trying to make itself look good after the fact.

In the video, the pair visit Planned Parenthood Central New Jersey’s abortion center in Perth Amboy and clinic manager Amy Woodruff, an LPN, warns the pimp and his prostitute to have their trafficked underage girls lie about their age to avoid mandatory reporting laws.

“Even if they lie, just say, ‘Oh he’s the same age as me, 15,’…it’s just that mainly 14 and under we have to, doesn’t matter if their partner’s the same age, younger, whatever, 14 and under we have to report,” Woodruff says.

“Like on the paperwork there’s going to be a point that asks, uh, like are you sexually active, stuff like that … if they’re under a certain age… – you know, me and my other counselor, like for the most part we want as little information as possible – cause we don’t want to be involved…”

Woodruff also recommends how the pimp can get his prostitutes cheaper contraception by claiming they are “students.”

“If they’re minors, put down that they’re students. Yeah, just kind of play along that they’re students–we want to make it look as legit as possible,” Woodruff is caught saying in the videotape.

Woodruff also coaches the alleged sex traffickers on where to get an abortion that won’t be met with as much scrutiny, referring them to the New Jersey-based abortion business named Metropolitan Medical Association, where she says “their protocols aren’t as strict as ours and they don’t get audited the same way that we do.”

The Planned Parenthood official also coaches the alleged sex traffickers on how soon they can put underage female sex slaves back to work. The prostitute in the video asks how long after the abortion until the girls can have sex again, and, when Woodruff says “minimum of 2 weeks,” she asks what sex acts the girls could still do to make money.

“Waist up, or just be that extra action walking by” to advertise sex to potential clients, Woodruff advises.

Lila Rose, President of Live Action, a group that has also caught Planned Parenthood on tape covering up potential cases of sexual abuse of minors, lying to women about abortions, and gladly accepting donations for abortions specifically targeting black unborn children, says the actions the new video footage shows contains illegal activity on behalf of the Planned Parenthood staff.

She accuses them of covering up sexual abuse, aiding and abetting statutory rape, minor prostitution, human trafficking, racketeering, and other crimes.

“This proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Planned Parenthood intentionally breaks state and federal laws and covers up the abuse of the young girls it claims to serve,” she told LifeNews.com.

“Time and time again, Planned Parenthood has sent young girls back into the arms of their abusers. They don’t deserve a dime of the hundreds of millions they receive in federal funding from taxpayers. Congress must cease funding and the Department of Justice should investigate this corrupt organization immediately,” Rose added.

Planned Parenthood, in a Twitter response, shrugged off the video.

“Planned Parenthood is no stranger to the attacks of those who oppose sexual and reproductive rights. We’re still here, providing the care you need. That being said, back to business…,” the tweet said.

The videos feature a man named “Joe” acting as a pimp and an assistant named “Gia” who say they manage girls as young as 14 and 15 in the sex trafficking ring — including girls who are Asian or speak very little or no English. Some of the girls are allegedly in the United States illegally.

“One, minors are always accepted without parental consent,” the Planned Parenthood staffer responds. “The only thing you do have to be careful is if they are minor, we are obligated, if we hear any certain information to kind of report, so, the first thing that is, what if they do speak English or even Spanish, it doesn’t matter what they speak – if we’re going to have it translated, they just have to be aware, that they have to be careful with whatever – you know, I’m not going to be like leading — I’m don’t want to get anybody in trouble, it’s just…”

Sex trafficking is punishable under federal law and carries a potential life sentence, the organization notes.

As a result, Live Action has sent the unedited footage it obtained at Planned Parenthood to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, NJ Attorney General Paula Dow, officials at the FBI and other law enforcement officials. The group requests federal and state investigations into Planned Parenthood’s sexual abuse and sex trafficking cover up.

When the information first surfaced about the sex trafficking coverup, Planned Parenthood officials told the Associated Press at least 12 of their abortion centers were visited by a man claiming to be a sexual trafficker of women who requested abortions be performed on presumably pregnant clients. The clients, the man says, are either in the United States illegally or are minors.

The man reportedly first inquired about treatment for a sexually transmitted disease and then detailed the alleged sex trafficking ring once granted a private conversation with Planned Parenthood staff.

The visits to the Planned Parenthood abortion centers reportedly occurred between January 11-15 at facilities in Virginia, Indiana, New York, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., and Arizona. [1 Feb 2011, Ertelt | Washington, DC | LifeNews.com]
   




Planned Parenthood Fires Employee Caught Enabling Underage Sex Trafficking

The Planned Parenthood clinic manager caught on videotape aiding a “pimp” in running an illegal sex-trafficking business exploiting underage foreign girls has been fired within a day of the video exposé‘s release.

An undercover video by the pro-life group Live Action released Tuesday showed a Planned Parenthood clinic manager coaching investigators at a New Jersey clinic disguised as a pimp and a prostitute how to obtain STD testing, birth control, and abortions for prostitutes as young as 14, and how to keep their underage sex trafficking business secret.

On Tuesday night, Planned Parenthood Central New Jersey CEO Phyllis Kinsler told the press that the manager had been fired. “We were profoundly shocked when we viewed the videotape this morning, which depicted an employee of one of our health centers behaving in a repugnant manner that is inconsistent with our standards of care and is completely unacceptable,” she said.

Hours earlier, both the national and state offices of Planned Parenthood had called the behavior portrayed on the video a violation of their policies.

Planned Parenthood also claimed that the manager had reported the incident to Planned Parenthood of Central New Jersey the same day of the actors’ visit. “As soon as these visits were over, Planned Parenthood employees immediately reported to Planned Parenthood management,” said Stuart Schear, Vice President for Communications for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

About a week before the video was released, Planned Parenthood had told the Associated Press that it had learned of several encounters with illegal sex traffickers within a week. The abortion group said that after reporting the incidents, they came to suspect that the visitors were investigators with Live Action, which has launched sting operations against the organization in the past.

New Jersey Attorney General Paula Dow also released a statement on the video Tuesday evening saying, “At first glance, I find these allegations to be very disturbing.” Dow has asked the Division of Criminal Justice to investigate the matter.

Live Action president Lila Rose called the firing evidence that Planned Parenthood is “coming to the realization that they have a serious problem brewing.” Rose, 22, said that more footage will soon be released “showing that Planned Parenthood is willing to aid and abet sexual exploitation of minors and young women.”

“As our research and evidence will show, this is not only a problem for one clinic [sic] in New Jersey — it is much broader and more endemic,” she said.
[2 Feb 2011, Kathleen Gilbert, PERTH AMBOY, New Jersey, LifeSiteNews.com, http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/planned-parenthood-fires-employee-caught-enabling-underage-sex-trafficking?utm_source=LifeSiteNews.com+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=9cb5e6f51e-LifeSiteNews_com_US_Headlines02_02_2011&utm_medium=email




Second Video Shows Planned Parenthood-Sex Trafficking Coverup

A second videotape has been released showing a Planned Parenthood abortion business covering up an alleged sex trafficking ring. The first tape showed staffers in New Jersey engaged in the coverup and this one features a clinic in Virginia.

The undercover investigation sponsored by the pro-life group Live Action features the same setup in this second video:  a sex ring operator and one of his prostitutes visit the Richmond Planned Parenthood abortion center looking for information about how to obtain abortions for the minor girls they allegedly illegally brought to the United State.

The new Richmond video presents a similar scenario as the New Jersey video. A man posing as a pimp and accompanied by his “bottom girl” seek assistance for getting abortions, STD testing and birth control for girls they “manage” as sex workers, who are from out of the country and as young as 14 to 15 years old.

One again, the sting operation has Planned Parenthood officials willing to bend over backwards to get abortions for the victimized girls and, in this case, bragging about how they can undermine the judicial bypass provision in the Virginia parental notification law to get a judge to approve the secret abortions on the sex slaves.

“But there are also ways, like judicial bypass, that we can get around that if you guys ever need it,” she says of how to get abortions for the 14 and 15-year-old girls they say are here illegally. “There’s a way to avoid that.”

The staffer, Kimberly, tells the undercover investigators: “If someone’s a minor and they don’t want their parents to know – parent’s insurance – so an abortion would show up. You fill out paperwork and we kinda help you set it up and we have a confidential hotline that will call you at whatever number you give us and handle the whole thing. So, for someone who’s a minor, that’s a really good thing. We do ‘em like once or twice a month here. We’re pretty good at handling if someone doesn’t want someone else to know.”

“We’ve kinda got it all,” she brags in the January 12 footage, about what Planned Parenthood can do to help the sex traffickers. The staffer also advises the sex traffickers that they can get abortions later in pregnancy in Maryland and DC if they want the girls they manage to get them.

When the Planned Parenthood staffer is told that the couple manage girls who are sex workers and that, “we gotta keep them safe, ” the staffer appears unconcerned, responding, “Yeah, yeah, of course” and “we see people from every walk of life.”

“For awhile we were treating all the girls at Paper Moon,” a local strip club. “No judgment, no sharing of information, like, uh, nothing here.”

The staffer says the girls, when informed they are not here legally, are welcome to get information and STD testing at Planned Parenthood. She ends the meeting by giving the sex traffickers her card and not appearing to show any concern about their law-breaking activity or that she will report them to law enforcement authorities following their meeting.

Federal law makes it so sexual trafficking of minors is a crime punishable by a 10 year to life prison term.

And anyone who aids or abets the crime can be punishable as if they had committed the crime themselves.

Live Action president Lila Rose commented on the new video footage and the problems at Planned Parenthood abortion centers.

“Planned Parenthood’s problems go far beyond New Jersey. Our new video shows their Richmond clinic willing to aid and abet the sexual exploitation of minors and coaching a pimp about how girls as young as 14 – 15 could circumvent parental consent laws for secret abortions,” she told LifeNews.com. “Watch the video – the clinic worker admits they do this ‘once or twice a month.’ Our investigations of 12 clinics in the past four years show a pattern of Planned Parenthood’s willingness to cover-up the sexual abuse of minors and young women.”

“We are sharing the full Richmond footage and transcripts with Virginia law enforcement officials and we are formally asking Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to conduct a statewide investigation of these heinous practices, just as the New Jersey Attorney General is opening her own investigation into Planned Parenthood’s compliance with the law in her state. Planned Parenthood needs to be held accountable,” Rose continued.

She said the investigation continues to unearth alarming evidence that Planned Parenthood, which receives more than $350 million from the American taxpayer every year, is willing to facilitate the sexual exploitation of minors and young women.

Responding to the video later on Thursday, the national Planned Parenthood abortion business defended the staffer in the footage:

In a recent round of secret videotaping in January 2011, at least four health centers in Virginia received visits in a short period of time from persons claiming to be involved in the sex trade, involving vulnerable minors. Local authorities, as well as federal authorities, were alerted to these visits.

In this morning’s publicized tape, the Planned Parenthood staff member reacted professionally to a highly unusual person posing as a patient. After the encounter, the staff member immediately notified her supervisor, who subsequently notified members of Planned Parenthood’s national security team, who are working with the FBI, which is investigating these visits.

The statement also called Rose a self-described “extremist” but Elisabeth Meinecke of Town Hall notes that quote is taken out of context.

In the New Jersey case, Planned Parenthood of Central New Jersey released a statement saying the staff person, Perth Amboy center clinic manager Amy Woodruff, would be let go after the videotape showed her covering up a case of sex trafficking.

“We were profoundly shocked when we viewed the videotape released this morning, which depicted an employee of one of our health centers behaving in a repugnant manner that is inconsistent with our standards of care and is completely unacceptable,” Phyllis Kinsler, executive director of the local affiliate, said a statement.

“We have a zero tolerance policy for this kind of behavior, and the employee in the video was immediately suspended from her duties this morning and was terminated this evening,” Kinsler said. “We are fully committed to delivering high-quality reproductive health care to the women of our communities, complying with all laws, and upholding the highest ethical standards.”

Planned Parenthood officials were reportedly unaware of what Woodruff told the couple involved in the undercover investigation.

The national Planned Parenthood organization had also originally suggested that the undercover video was a “hoax” and an “edited tape” before firing Woodruff.  Lila Rose of Live Action responded to that and the firing.

“It appears that Planned Parenthood decided to fire Ms. Woodruff over a ‘hoax.’  Or, maybe they are coming to the realization that they have a serious problem brewing,” Rose stated.

“Soon, we will be releasing more evidence to law enforcement officials and the public showing that Planned Parenthood is willing to aid and abet sexual exploitation of minors and young women.  As our research and evidence will show, this is not only a problem for one clinic in New Jersey — it is much broader and more endemic,” Rose said.

“These practices are putting minors and young women in harm’s way — all paid for by the American taxpayer,” Rose concluded.

Meanwhile, Attorney General Paula Dow has asked the Division of Criminal Justice to investigate whether the former Planned Parenthood employee broke any laws in assisting the acting couple with securing abortions for the sex trafficking victims they said they managed. “At first glance, I find these allegations to be very disturbing,” Dow said in a statement.
[3 Feb 2011, Ertelt | Washington, DC | LifeNews.com,  http://www.lifenews.com/2011/02/03/second-video-shows-planned-parenthood-sex-trafficking-coverup/




Pence Says the 'Time to Deny Funding to Planned Parenthood is Now'
U.S. Congressman Mike Pence released the following statement today regarding an undercover video that showed potential criminal activity at a Planned Parenthood clinic in New Jersey:

"The recent release of an undercover video exposing duplicity and potential criminality by an employee of Planned Parenthood is an outrage.

"Every American should be shocked that an employee of the largest recipient of federal funds under Title X has been recorded aiding and abetting underage sex trafficking.

"The time to deny any and all funding to Planned Parenthood is now. In the wake of yet another scandal involving Planned Parenthood, I urge Congress to move the Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act to the floor for immediate consideration."
[WASHINGTON, Feb. 2, 2011 /Christian Newswire; PharmFacts E-News Update -- 2 Feb 2011]

 

Shoulder to Shoulder [March for Life, D.C., 24 Jan 2011]

400,000 people were walking shoulder to shoulder. The crowd was so thick that it felt as though we were carried forward by it without having to take a step. There were more young people surrounding us than we could even see. It was an honor to march next to them, and a blessing to share the hope that someday, we will see an end to the slaughter of our generation.

The weekend had been difficult, to say the least. Hannah and I faced opposition just getting to Washington, DC. We had almost missed our flight, on which there was no room for any of our luggage. Our luggage was subsequently lost, making us late to the Students for Life of America (SFLA) conference. When we finally arrived at the SFLA conference, we realized that we did not have the promotional materials that we had planned to bring. In all of our efforts, we were tested to the very brink of our patience.

In the end, though, we received our luggage, printed new promotional material, and were able to minister... We met the people we needed to meet, and participated in the March for Life events that we needed to attend. While we had been stretched to our limits, everything we needed was provided at the last minute. It felt like Hannah and I had been continuously taken to the edge of a cliff, about to fall off of the edge...

Other pro-life organizations felt similar opposition in their trips to the March for Life. Anna Bettisworth, from LiveAction told us, “The same thing has been happening to me. It’s only been just enough for us to take” ...

I do not share this to complain about Hannah’s and my trip to the March for Life. The March was an amazing experience. I was astounded by the energy of all of the young people who took a stand for life, and awestruck with respect for the women from Silent No More who led the March. Those women are my newest heroes, as their witness shows incredible strength and courage...

The afternoon that we arrived to DC, Hannah shared this with me: “I sense something great for this March for Life. I believe ... this March [is going] to join together pro-lifers like never before.”

Hannah was absolutely right.

Through the March for Life, we met representatives of pro-life organizations from all over the nation, with whom we are excited to build relationships and plan for future exciting events.

We were able to speak to youth who were enthused by their participation in the March, but will now be looking for an opportunity like Survivors ProLife Training Camp to continue their involvement in pro-life ministry. Above all, however, we were able to pray for the women who are continually affected by abortion, their families, our generation who is being targeted for death, and the little ones who are being led to the slaughter. We prayed for our nation and our legislators, that their hearts would be softened and converted, and that they may have the courage to stand for truth... [04/02/11, Kristina Garza, Outreach, Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust Action Alert]

Walking with 40,000 Pro-lifers in San Francisco: A  Perspective
 
I always knew there were a good amount of pro-lifers in the world, but actually seeing the estimated 40,000 people in San Francisco on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, hit home for me.  

So many incredible things have happened since I joined the Campus Life Tour this semester.  Lives have been changed in so many ways because people have gained the courage to stand up for the most basic, yet vital thing:  Life.  Being an activist for life is all about giving yourself to something bigger than you could ever imagine.  Seeing 40,000 pro-lifers at San Francisco's Walk for Life helped me realized we're not alone.  I'm happy and feel completely reassured that God has a plan to bring an end to the injustice of abortion.

Abby Johnson spoke to the crowd about her life-changing realization that abortion is murder and how she no longer works for Planned Parenthood.  After getting pumped up at the rally, they let us loose to walk the streets of San Francisco for about four miles.  Many peaceful youth, families and bands gathered to march together to represent life in one of the most liberal cities of the world.  Of course there were the few radical pro-aborts that occasionally lined the sidewalks, but even they couldn't begin to challenge what we had to offer -- because we offer the truth.

The secular news world barely covered any of what we did, but it doesn't end here.  The pro-life youth of our generation are committed and dedicated and will continue to declare to the world what really matters:  The truth about abortion.
[4 Feb 2011, by Kaylah McDonald, Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust Action Alert]




BRING BACK FAMILY TIME / Stirring the Pot to Fix Social Ills

If you want to give your family something more substantial than the culture offers, maybe a good meal is the ticket! Columnist Marybeth Hicks proposes that making a pot of soup and sitting down with the family can fix a host of social ills in our country: strengthen marriages, teach character to children and encourage community involvement. Our families are worth it!

At long last, there’s a national best-selling book that offers practical and proven advice on many of the social ills that plague our nation.

This book explains with measured solutions how to curb childhood obesity and enhance children’s nutrition, improve communication between married couples and among parents and their kids, instill sound values in the next generation, conduct civil political discourse, engage in community involvement and service, improve time-management skills, avoid the pitfalls of media saturation and much more.

The author isn’t a physician or a policy expert or a social scientist; she’s not a preacher or a teacher — she’s not even certified in her field. Nonetheless, if every American family purchased this book and followed the simple recipes for living contained in it, our communities and our country would be profoundly better off.

The book? “Mr. Sunday’s Soups,” a collection of delicious soup recipes complied by Lorraine Wallace, wife of “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace. (I have read all 78 recipes and cooked two so far. The use of the word “delicious” is a documented fact.)

That’s right. The answer to the question, “How can America strengthen its families, improve the health of its citizens and thus its communities, encourage its youth, and pass on the values and virtues that are crucial to the character of our nation?” can be found in — a cookbook.

“Mr. Sunday” is Chris Wallace‘s nickname among his co-workers at the Fox News Channel. As the couple has explained, their family tradition since Mr. Wallace began his stint at Fox is to sit together for a soup lunch when he returns home from work on Sundays. It started when the couple’s then-teenage son, Remick, still lived at home and spent Sunday afternoons playing baseball. Lunch was the only window of the day when the family could eat together.

Eating together is the key. “I think this is the tradition that people are yearning for,” Mrs. Wallace told me. “With all the challenges facing modern American families, gathering around the table is still an important way that we can teach our children values and help them learn to cope with things that every child faces when they grow up.

“The family table is where we celebrate successes and nurture each other through our failures,” she says. At the Wallace household, meeting at the family table often included soup.

Lorraine and Chris Wallace met the way many couples do — through mutual friends at a party. Both divorced single parents, she was mother to two children; he was the father of four, including young twins. They dated, fell in love and got married, blending together what Mr. Wallace calls “our own version of the Brady Bunch.”

“There were years when I would be driving kids from one thing to another from 3 in the afternoon until well into the evening,” Mrs. Wallace recalled. “On those nights, it was always wonderful to come home to a pot of soup. It was quick, affordable, delicious, and it was an easy way to get everyone to sit together for a meal.”

Her soup suppers accomplished what other quick meals could not: Getting the family to sit down. “It’s hard to eat soup on the run,” she explained.

Looking at the family photos nestled between soup recipes in her book, it’s clear this family blended together well, like pumpkin-pear soup or “buffalo” chili.

Mrs. Wallace‘s recipes for butternut squash puree (served with blue-cheese popovers), pasta-and-chickpea soup, and old-fashioned tomato soup with maple-candied bacon would beckon any family to the table, to be sure. (Mine is looking forward to hot and sour soup that doesn’t come in a takeout container.)

But this cookbook is more than just a catalog of hearty and healthy soup recipes. It’s also a call to action — a game plan to improve our families by remembering that we must feed not only our bodies, but also the relationships that comprise the most vital building blocks in our national foundation: Our families. [Marybeth Hicks, www.abstinence.net, 1 Feb 2011;
http://townhall.com/columnists/MarybethHicks/2011/01/26/stirring_the_pot_to_fix_social_ills/page/full/

MUST-SEE VIDEO: Resources to Protect Your Family From Online Harm

Enough is Enough has launched a new video on YouTube as a warning to parents. Parents are often uninformed and ill-equipped to protect their children from online harm. Check out this video for more resources and action steps you can take to protect your family.
[http://www.youtube.com/user/EnoughIsEnough101#p/a/u/0/Dsr4tYtqLM8 ; www.abstinence.net, 1 Feb 2011]

Baltimore Anti-Pregnancy Center Law Declared Unconstitutional; Care Net Celebrates Victory for Pro-Life Organizations Nationwide

On Friday, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland found an anti-pregnancy center law in Baltimore City unconstitutional, sending a message across the country that similar legislative efforts by abortion advocates to shut down pregnancy centers cannot be upheld.

In Archbishop of Baltimore et al. v. City of Baltimore et al., Judge Garbis validated the arguments of Care Net and others defending pregnancy centers by stating that the legislation is an unconstitutional violation of free speech.

Pregnancy centers were targeted because of their position on abortion, which is considered viewpoint discrimination.

"The decision is a victory for pregnancy centers who for years have encountered hostile legislation aimed at shutting them down," said Care Net President Melinda Delahoyde. "A victory for pregnancy centers is a victory for women facing unplanned pregnancies, women who deserve life-affirming options and abortion alternatives."

In the opinion, Judge Garbis stated, "The Government cannot, consistent with the First Amendment, require a 'pro-life' pregnancy-related service center to post a sign as would be required by the Ordinance."

In addition, the Judge stated that "viewpoint-based discrimination is considered a particularly offensive form of content-based discrimination." [LANSDOWNE, Va., Jan. 28, 2011, http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/3861216083.html ]

NYC's Bill Targeting Pregnancy Centers: DOA
Momentum was on their side when last October abortion proponents introduced legislation in the liberally toxic New York City Council to hamstring pregnancy care centers.

Bill No. 371, which mimics ordinances passed in Baltimore and Austin, would force PCCs in NYC to post signage that they do not commit abortions or distribute contraceptives. It would also force them to notify clients if there were no doctor in the house....

But then came a report two weeks ago from the NYC Department of Health....

For Bill No. 371, the timing of this report could not have been worse....

Now Bill No. 371 looks not only cruel but harmful to women....

NARAL didn't help its cause when it released its annual report last week, giving New York a grade of "A-" for abortion advocacy and ranking it the 12th-best state to "procure a hasty abortion," as Juno would say.

Nor did the pro-abortion think tank Guttmacher Institute help, also reporting last week that U.S. abortions are slightly up after declining for almost 20 years....

My prediction?...

Continue reading my column today, "NYC's bill targeting pregnancy centers: DOA," at WorldNetDaily.com.
Read on... 
 Announcing the "Ask Them What They Mean By 'Choice' Blog Day," January 21!
 
When NARAL announced a "Blog for Choice Day," to be held this Friday, January 21, my blood boiled.

How dare they celebrate the upcoming 38th anniversary of the infamous Roe v. Wade decision with their ambiguous claptrap.

Over 50 million babies have been killed in America since that terrible day, most certainly nothing to cheer about, unless you're in Rome at the Colosseum perhaps.

So pro-life bloggers are banding together to sponsor a counter "Ask Them What They Mean When They Say 'Choice' Blog Day" on the same day, January 21.

We're also encouraging all pro-lifers on Twitter and Facebook to participate.

The idea is simple. Any time any of us reads pro-aborts spouting their obscure "choice" rhetoric on a blog, website, Facebook, or Twitter, we call them out on it. We ask them to explain what the "choice" is.

Email me and I'll add your blog to the list. Feel free to use our graphic.

See the growing list of co-sponsors and read more at my blog.
Read on... 
 (Prolifer)ations on the blog this week
 
I'm tracking a breaking story this morning: Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell was arrested overnight on 8 counts of murder - 7 for killing aborted alive infants.

Speaker Boehner and others are picking up on a story I broke Monday about Obama's former chief-of-staff Rahm Emanuel telling the Chicago Tribune editorial board over the weekend he "came up with an idea for an executive order to allow the Stupak Amendment not to exist by law..."

View here the black abortion genocide ad that aired on BET 60x just a couple weeks ago.

Finally, a GOP congressman is currently circulating a "Dear Colleague" letter re: a probe he plans, to learn whether federal tax dollars are paying for abortion telemed equipment.

Visit JillStanek.com often for the latest pro-life and pro-abortion news. 
   Contact Information
[19 Jan 2011, http://www.jillstanek.com

American Idol Contestant: I Was Told to Abort My Baby, but She’s ‘The Best Thing That Ever Happened’
Single mom Paris Tassin appeared on the American Idol audition in Louisiana last Thursday night where she gave a tearful testimony about her decision to bring an unplanned, high risk pregnancy to term.

Tassin was eighteen years old when she found out she was pregnant. An ultrasound revealed that the baby had hydrocephalus, a condition characterized by fluid build-up inside the skull.

“[The doctors] told me that I shouldn’t have her, and it wasn’t going to be good if I did,” Tassin said in her audition tape. She refused an abortion, however, and says that her daughter Keira is now a very healthy four-year-old. The only medical complication that resulted from Keira’s condition is hearing loss, for which she needs to wear hearing aids.

“She’s the best thing that ever happened to me in my life,” said Tassin, “I’m singing for her.”

Tassin impressed judges with an emotional rendition of Carrie Underwood’s “Temporary Home,” a song that talks about the challenges of single motherhood. She was selected to move on to the next level of the competition, which will take place in Hollywood.

Tassin’s audition is not the first time that a pro-life story was featured on American Idol. Last year, Maddy Curtis, daughter of award winning pro-life blogger Tripp Curtis, told the audience in her opening segment about her eleven siblings, including one biological and three adopted brothers with down syndrome.

2007 winner Jordin Sparks also gained attention for her pro-chastity beliefs when she spoke out in defense of pre-marital abstinence at the MTV music video awards in 2008.
[27 Jan 11, Christine Dhanagom, New Orleans, http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/american-idol-contestant-i-was-told-to-abort-my-baby-but-shes-the-best-thin?utm_source=LifeSiteNews.com+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=c444239874-LifeSiteNews_com_US_Headlines01_27_2011&utm_medium=email

Miracle Baby Given a Chance, When Parents Go Against Doctors Advising Abortion

Parents who were advised to abort their baby, went against doctors wishes and are now the parents to a beautiful little boy named Isaac.

Kylie Ingham, 22, was devastated when doctors advised her to abort her unborn baby at 20-weeks because a scan revealed he had major problems with his lungs. Mrs Ingham was inspired to continue with her pregnancy by the story of her husband Matt, 31, who had been given a mere 10 per cent chance of surviving when he was born in 1979.

Against the odds little Isaac was born healthy and completely normal at King's College Hospital in London.

"We had always discussed if there was something wrong with him, we would keep him. Abortion never entered into my mind," said Mrs Ingham.

'I said to Matt, "When your mum had you and was told there was only a 10 per cent chance of survival, she never gave up on you - this is our baby and surely we should give him a chance".

'That was what convinced me not to give up, the fact that Matt had survived all those years ago. Now we have got the perfect, little miracle."

The couple was told after a 20 week scan that their unborn baby was suffering from Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH), a rare condition in which the diaphragm is not fully formed and allows the stomach, bowel and liver to push up into the chest, preventing proper lung growth.

One in two babies die of the condition before birth and then again there was only a 50/50 chance he would survive the major surgery needed once he was born.

Mrs Ingham said, "They said the best option would be a 'medical abortion'. It was at that stage that I looked at Matt and he was crying.

'We were both crying and my first instinct was anger - I felt as though they were saying to me, 'you are only 22, why should you want a baby with issues?'

'But once I said I was keeping him, their whole attitude changed automatically and the same day we were asked if we wanted to take part in some research as they wanted records of how he did with a ventilator when he was born."

Mr Ingham said, "I was born in King's and survived against the odds so I thought we should go there as that was the best place for me back then."

Isaac was born at the hospital on October 8 last year, weighing a healthy 8lb 7oz and because of his good weight doctors were able to operate on him when he was just 27 hours old. The baby had to undergo a complicated six-hour surgery which involved sowing the hole on the left hand side of his diaphragm back together and moving his organs back into the right place from his chest cavity.

He recovered well and was able to leave hospital after just 15 days. Mrs Ingham said: 'I still don't believe he is here. I just feel sorry for anyone who has got rid of their baby, never knowing that outcome of what happened. I am not saying if your baby has CDH it is going to survive - nobody can say that until its born.

'You need to have hope - hope and patience, you just have to believe really.' Isaac is a part of a long-term research programme with the hospital which will help other babies suffering from CDH and he will go for regular check ups until he is 10-years-old. Mr Ingham said, "Once he gets to the age of two, he will be running round like any other youngster. He is a miracle."

[Jan. 28, 2011, The Daily Mail,
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1349984/Kylie-Ingham-refuses-abort-baby-survives-odds.html ; 29 Jan 11, http://www.youthdefence.ie/latest-news/miracle-baby-given-a-chance-when-parents-go-against-doctors-advising-abortion/ ]

Is There a Genius in All of Us?
Where do athletic and artistic abilities come from? With phrases like "gifted musician", "natural athlete" and "innate intelligence", we have long assumed that talent is a genetic thing some of us have and others don't.

But new science suggests the source of abilities is much more interesting and improvisational. It turns out that everything we are is a developmental process and this includes what we get from our genes.

A century ago, geneticists saw genes as robot actors, always uttering the same lines in exactly the same way, and much of the public is still stuck with this old idea. In recent years, though, scientists have seen a dramatic upgrade in their understanding of heredity.

They now know that genes interact with their surroundings, getting turned on and off all the time. In effect, the same genes have different effects depending on who they are talking to.

Malleable

"There are no genetic factors that can be studied independently of the environment," says Michael Meaney, a professor at McGill University in Canada.

 
David Shenk, Author of The Genius in All of Us

"It would be folly to suggest that anyone can literally do or become anything. But the new science tells us that it's equally foolish to think that mediocrity is built into most of us.”

"And there are no environmental factors that function independently of the genome. [A trait] emerges only from the interaction of gene and environment."

This means that everything about us - our personalities, our intelligence, our abilities - are actually determined by the lives we lead. The very notion of "innate" no longer holds together.

"In each case the individual animal starts its life with the capacity to develop in a number of distinctly different ways," says Patrick Bateson, a biologist at Cambridge University.

"Like a jukebox, the individual has the potential to play a number of different developmental tunes. The particular developmental tune it does play is selected by [the environment] in which the individual is growing up."

Is it that genes don't matter? Of course not. We're all different and have different theoretical potentials from one another. There was never any chance of me being Cristiano Ronaldo. Only tiny Cristiano Ronaldo had a chance of being the Cristiano Ronaldo we know now.

But we also have to understand that he could have turned out to be quite a different person, with different abilities. His future football magnificence was not carved in genetic stone.

Doomed

This new developmental paradigm is a big idea to swallow, considering how much effort has gone into persuading us that each of us inherits a fixed amount of intelligence, and that most of us are doomed to be mediocre.

The notion of a fixed IQ has been with us for almost a century. Yet the original inventor of the IQ test, Alfred Binet, had quite the opposite opinion, and the science turns out to favour Binet.

"Intelligence represents a set of competencies in development," said Robert Sternberg from Tufts University in the US in 2005, after many decades of study.

Talent researchers Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Kevin Rathunde and Samuel Whalen agree.

"High academic achievers are not necessarily born 'smarter' than others," they write in their book Talented Teenagers, "but work harder and develop more self-discipline."

James Flynn of the University of Otago in New Zealand has documented how IQ scores themselves have steadily risen over the century - which, after careful analysis, he ascribes to increased cultural sophistication. In other words, we've all gotten smarter as our culture has sharpened us.

Most profoundly, Carol Dweck from Stanford University in the US, has demonstrated that students who understand intelligence is malleable rather than fixed are much more intellectually ambitious and successful.

The same dynamic applies to talent. This explains why today's top runners, swimmers, cyclists, chess players, violinists and on and on, are so much more skilful than in previous generations.

All of these abilities are dependent on a slow, incremental process which various micro-cultures have figured out how to improve. Until recently, the nature of this improvement was merely intuitive and all but invisible to scientists and other observers.

Soft and sculptable

But in recent years, a whole new field of "expertise studies", led by Florida State University psychologist Anders Ericsson, has emerged which is cleverly documenting the sources and methods of such tiny, incremental improvements.

 Born to be a footballer?
Bit by bit, they're gathering a better and better understanding of how different attitudes, teaching styles and precise types of practice and exercise push people along very different pathways.

Does your child have the potential to develop into a world-class athlete, a virtuoso musician, or a brilliant Nobel-winning scientist?

It would be folly to suggest that anyone can literally do or become anything. But the new science tells us that it's equally foolish to think that mediocrity is built into most of us, or that any of us can know our true limits before we've applied enormous resources and invested vast amounts of time.

Our abilities are not set in genetic stone. They are soft and sculptable, far into adulthood. With humility, with hope, and with extraordinary determination, greatness is something to which any kid - of any age - can aspire.

[12 Jan 2011, David Shenk is the author of The Genius in All of Us, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12140064 ;
Comment: "Genes interact with their surroundings, getting turned on and off all the time."
 That is to say, how children are raised, what they practice and study, and the activites they do most often -- all of this is somehow imprinted on genes, turning them on or off. Almost like exercising a muscle, other aspects of the personality, need to be "moved" to develop properly. And the changes can continue far into adulthood. N Shuman, 17 Jan 2011]

How a London cabbie's brain grows
London cabbies famously navigate one of the most complex cities in the world.

In 1999, neurologist Eleanor Maguire conducted MRI scans on their brains and compared them with the brain scans of others.

In contrast with non-cabbies, experienced taxi drivers had a greatly enlarged posterior hippocampus - that part of the brain that specialises in recalling spatial representations.

What's more, the size of cabbies' hippocampi correlated directly with each driver's experience: the longer the driving career, the larger the posterior hippocampus.

That showed that spatial tasks were actively changing cabbies' brains. This was perfectly consistent with studies of violinists, Braille readers, meditation practitioners, and recovering stroke victims.

Our brains adapt in response to the demands we put on them. [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12140064 ]

You Me Everybody. We're All Just Grown-Up Embryos Campaign
Some 728,000 people saw the pro-life billboards, with their amazing pro-life message 'YOU ME EVERYBODY. We're all just grown-up embryos'. This campaign worked to promote dialogue on the issue of embryonic stem cell research and was met by much public interest and this enthusiasm continues to grow.

Since November, YD has received requests from pro-life groups all over the world wanting to use the billboard and its slogan. Rebecca Roughneen of Youth Defence said, "This concept is now appearing on billboards in Australia, on posters in France, pro-life materials in Belgium and the United States." She added that they recently worked with a group in America, who have plans to post the You Me Everybody billboard through the US in the near future.

Rebecca concluded, "We continue to receive interest in this billboard and the campaign. This is a perfect example that a good idea really does travel well!"
[28 Jan 2011, http://www.youthdefence.ie/latest-news/international-demand-for-our-you-me-everybody-campaign-grows/